IUD Advice - San Antonio,TX

I have heard horror stories of women getting pg on the Mirena IUD. I have endometriosis and have the Paragard (copper) IUD. At first the periods were getting heavier, but this evened out as I got a little older. This is my second round with the Paragard and I love it! Had it removed when we decided to have baby #3. Now hubby can feel the strings sometimes, but it does not really seem to bother him much. The hormones are still going to be the same...you just dont have to take a pill each day to get them.

Hi there.
I don't know about the Mirena IUD but, I have an IUD and I hate it. In fact, as soon as my husbands insurance kicks in I'm going to have mine removed. I've had it for about 8 years. I have very painful and very, very heavy periods. Sometimes I don't even have a period at all and sometimes I spot for a week before my actual period starts. I also find that intercourse is very painful at times. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with the IUD or not. If I were you, I would check that out before I get it. Yes, it is nice not having to worry about the bc pill every day but, I think right now I'd rather do that than the IUD.
Best of luck to you.

Mirena's great. I don't have any periods anymore. I don't recommend the copper IUD. I had very heavy periods with that, and ended up expelling the darn thing. Don't recommend Nuvaring either...

Good luck.

I had a Mirena for 4 1/2 years and loved it. I would caution you that I finally had it pulled because I was having hormonal mood swings. I am also 40 and part of it was due to age, but I had started feeling out of control. Within a week of having it pulled, I felt like myself again. I don't regret having it, and it was great for the first 4 years, but if the emotions get out of whack, you might consider pulling it even though the manufacturer says it is not an issue. I never had any other issues with it. I loved not having periods. I would choose it over the pill anyday, the side effects are definitly less with the Mirena.

HI! This is isn't very positive and I am sure it is different for every person. It made my libido way worse. Of course having a newborn and a 2 year old and breastfeeding don't help! hahaha! The progesterone (sp?) can make you very dry there also. When I swtiched back to a combination pill, I felt much better. I am still tired though and don't want to do it because of two little kids though! Sorry, I didn't give any support!

DON'T DO IT. I got Mirena put in when my baby was 4 months old and I am very sensitive to hormones. My doc said the same thing "Mirena only deposits hormones in the uterus, it does not effect you systemically." I should have gone with my instincts, I had it removed by a different doctor after having it only 6 months. I ended up gaining 20 pounds, suppered from pretty severe depression and had absolutely no interest in sex. It took a couple of weeks before I started to feel normal again. I am still tryin to get the weight off that I put on and I have had it out for 4 months now. Please google "mirena side effects" and read about others who have had issues with it.

Good luck to you.

Hi A.,

I have had the Mirena IUD in for 10 months now. I haven't had any issues with losing weight since on it BUT I have an extremely low libido now and my hair is falling out in handfuls and also blurry vision. Now I can't be sure these are related to the IUD but I am considering having it removed just to rule out the option. Also let me say that from what I have read if this is related to the IUD I would fall in the small percentage of people who do not do well with the Mirena (I never had any problems with my orthotri-cyclen before and was on it for 8 years). I have several friends who have the Mirena and love it and also several who don't like it so I think it is a personal trial and error thing. I think I am going to have mine removed and go back to the pill until the hubby and I are sure if we are done having children.

Hi A.,

I had the Mirena for 4 years and at first I loved it, after the 3-6 months my period was complete gone. I never spotted or anything after that. Within time my hair started to fall out and started to have back pain. I notice that through the years I was gaining weight and was hard for me to loose weight, even with diet and exercise. I started searching online everything about the Mirena, the good and the bad and found many forums and website where many women were experimenting the same side effects I was having and decided to have it removed. I could not believe that in the same day the IUD was removed my back pain went away and I no longer have mood swings. And my sex drive is back to normal. I would suggest you do some research on it before you decide what is best for you. But again everybody is different. Good luck and take care

First let me say that if this comes off bad I apologise I just hate when doctors mis- inform or straight out lie to their patients. If you are having problems with the BC pills don't go to the mirena. Your doc is nuts if he thinks that just because the hormones are secreting into your uterus that they don't carry through the blood stream. The uterus is a part of the grand sceme of things. A profused uterus has blood brought to it by arteries from the heart and the used up blood is carried back to the heart by veins. How would the hormone not get into that? If you do want to go with an intruterine device I would suggest the copper IUD (paragaurd). No hormones to mess with and it's good for 10 years instead of just 5. The mirena is considered "low dose" and is the equivalent of taking something like orthotricylin-lo. I would get a second opinion from another gyno before taking the plunge. Again if this sounds mean I don't mean for it to, I'm just screaming at your doc in my head for being an idiot.

A.,
Have you heard about Natural Family Planning? No sides effects, no damage to delicate reproductive organs, very healthy, and it won't make you fat. No pills, no inserts, you can tell when you are ovualting and just avoid relations at those times.
also, see if you can get a copy of the book From Belly Fat to Belly Flat by Dr. Randolph. Barnes and Nobles was carrying it when I got a copy. It discusses how estrogen dominance is making people fat and has foods and recipes that will help estrogen leave your body.
A.

I've had the Mirena for about 2 years now and perhaps I've noticed I was able to lose a little weight ,but for me it wasn't a big difference. As far as the libido, I have other issues affecting that so I have not noticed an approvement in that area. It is nice not having to remember to take a bc pill. I will say; however, that after about the first year of having the Mirena my husband began to feel the string during times that we were "together". The string is not like your normal string. It definately is unconfortable if my husband feels it. Sometimes he feels it, sometimes he does not. And it may very well be that he may feel the string due to the other female issues that I have. Perhaps if I didn't have these other issues he may never have felt it. I got the Mirena because I had been on the bc pill for so very long. Make sure you check with your insurance company to see if they cover it. If not, it is about $500.

The Mirena is WONDERFUL!!! I had mine for 3 1/2 years and had it removed to have another baby. I also had trouble with taking many types of the pill, severe mood swings, no sex drive, etc. It is also very possible to lose weight while you have the mirena, I lost 73 pounds before getting pregnant this time. Also my period dwindled to almost nonexistent for the last 2 1/2 years I had the Mirena. Now, I will say that I'm not sure if it was a side effect of the Mirena and not ovualting on a regular basis, but I am now pregnant with twins and I have no twins in my family. But we are over the shock, and like I said we're not sure if the Mirena is the culprit. The main idea of this rambling is that I LOVED the Mirena, I would get another one, but my husband is getting the snip after the babies are born. Good luck in whatever choice you make.

I have had the iud for a year and love it.

Hi A.,

I LOVE my Mirena IUD -- it's great not to have to remember to take a pill every day, not to have to worry when I inevitably do NOT remember sometimes, and it has not caused the weight game and emotional fragility the pill has. The pill never affected my sex drive that I can recall (it's really low, so it's hard to tell), but for sure not having to worry about having to do anything or prepare before having sex is very freeing and has definitely been good for spontanaeity and to keep the worried chatter in my head to a minimum!

All the best!
M.